The committee members of Tajuddin Baba Dargah on Yarada Hills on Monday alleged that a few persons have been trying to grab the dargah and its land for the past six months. They also alleged that the persons were also obstructing them from performing annual Chandanotsavam at the dargah, scheduled to be held on Tuesday.
The committee joint secretary S. Nazir said that the dargah is in the private land owned by the Mokhasadars, who got 2,162 acres of land, including Yarada village, as inam land from Nizam Nawabs in the 1770s.
Most of the land was encroached and a case is pending in High Court, between the Mokhasadars and the government. The High Court gave interim orders in 2008 by stating that no allotment or sale of land to other parties.
But a few persons forcibly locked the dargah gates with the support of Waqf Board officials in Visakhapatnam in December last year, Mr. Nazir alleged.
“We have lodged a complaint at Malkapuram police station about the attack on committee members in July last year, We have also requested police to provide protection to perform the annual Chandanotsavam,” he said.
Other members of the dargah committee Zahara Begum and K. Appala Raju said that all documents of ownership rights on the land were submitted by one of the family members of Mokhasadars, Mohiddin Basha, to the police. But no action was taken against the land grabbers, they alleged.
The Mokhasadars Welfare Association president Mohiddin Basha told the media that the land belongs to their family and even revenue records support it.
“Now, we have only 25 to 30 acres of land out of 2,162 acres given by the Nizam Nawabs as most of the land was encroached and even the government took a major chunk of land. Now, the matter is in court and private persons are trying to grab the remaining land also,’ he alleged.
The committee was appointed by the Mokhasadars to organise the prayers for the past 20 years after the demise of Tajuddin Baba and his follower Siddi Baba, who also passed away in 2014, they said.
